Mourinho’s side are now unbeaten in 15 league games and the manager feels he is finally starting to get the recognition he has long deserved in English football.

He said: “My team is playing very well but for many, many years in my career, especially in this country, when my teams were ruthless and when they were phenomenal defensively and very good in the counter-attack, I listened week after week… it was not enough, in spite of winning the title three times.

“It looks like this season, to be phenomenal defensively and be good at counter attack is art, so it’s a big change in England.

“I don’t want to change the profile of our play. This is the way we want to play. I don’t want to be the manager of a team that plays very well, creates chances and doesn’t win matches. We need to score goals and today we did.”

The result at the King Power never looked in doubt as United turned in a dominant performance against a Leicester side struggling at the wrong end of the table after a superb 2015/16 season in which they won the title.

t was a far cry from last season, when Mourinho lost his job as Chelsea boss after a 2-1 defeat at the King Power Stadium – and he could not resist a joke at his expense.

He said: “The last time I was sat in this chair, the next day I was sacked!”